Home For The Holidays
by ThnksFrThMmrs87
Summary: Stella's headed out of town for the holidays, but with the right persuasion she may just decide to stay home. Super Fluffy.


Note From The Author-- So... fluffy... must.... see... dentist.......

Disclaimer-- Only the cotton candy belongs to me, not the characters

Overhearing conversations in the lab was pretty much common place, but Flack certainly didn't expect to hear the conversation he heard paused outside of trace with Mac a few weeks before Christmas.

"Stella, don't leave. You can spend Christmas with me."

She shook her head, curls flying. "I can't intrude like that, kiddo. It's the baby's first Christmas, and that's something that you and Danny need to have on your own."

Lindsay sighed. "It's not like we're really a family," she said quietly.

"Hey," Stella whispered. "You are a family, maybe not the normal type, but a family. Your son knows his mother and his father, even if they haven't quite figured out what they want to be to each other yet."

"I guess you're right," she said with a watery smile. "But Stella you're part of all of our families too. You should be here."

Stella shrugged. "Everyone's doing their own thing, Lindsay. I'm going to do my own as well, just in Seattle."

"Are you positive?"

Her smile was just a little bit sad. "I'm positive."

Out in the hall Mac snapped his fingers in front of Flack's face, and he realized he'd been totally out of it. "Sorry, what?"

"You still with me?" Mac asked with a bemused smile.

"Yeah," he told him, shaking it off. "I'm good."

Folders transferred hands and they discussed their case for a few minutes more, but Flack's mind was already completely off in the distance. He really wasn't quite sure when his crush on Stella had developed, but it had been going strong for years with no foreseeable end.

He hated hearing that she wouldn't be here for the holidays; but what worried him most had been what he'd heard in her voice, that hint that she felt unwelcome. Don knew that a lot of that was because everyone seemed to have plans this year; even Mac had something going on. But knowing that didn't change the sadness in her eyes; it also didn't make him feel and more confident in what he was considering doing about it.

As the days before Christmas dwindled, the entire team tried to convince Stella that she would be more than welcome at any one of their celebrations. No matter what the offer, she declined. Though she would never tell them, it was hard to be around her friends at the holidays. She always felt like the odd man out around the holidays, mostly because she really didn't have anyone to go home to. Everyone she cared about spent time with their families, and this year was certainly no exception. With Danny and Lindsay celebrating their first Christmas with their son and spending time with his family, Mac headed out to Chicago to visit friends, Hawkes with his new girlfriend, Adam and Jess basking in the first blushes of love, and Don's whole family having their customary celebration, she felt like the square peg in the round hole.

It hadn't taken long for Stella to decide that year that going out of town would be the best plan. She missed everyone when she left, but she often felt just as sad at home. So a couple days before Christmas Eve she had her bags packed and waiting by the door for the cabbie she had miraculously convinced to come to the door, and as she pulled on her coat she breathed a little sigh. What she hoped was that when she got to the spa in Seattle she'd be able to relax and forget that everyone she loved was a thousand miles away.

"Not likely," she muttered to herself. But the plane ticket was in her bag and the knock at the door alerted her that her cabbie was evidently waiting. Imagine her surprise when she opened the door to find not a man who on the phone had sounded like a fifty-something smoker, but Don Flack waiting for her.

"Hey Stell," he said with a slow smile that made her stomach do a little flip flop.

Stella tried to shake that feeling off as she returned the smile. "Don, what are you doing here?"

"Well," he said, leaning against the doorframe casually. "I had this crazy idea, and I decided to run it by you."

"At the same time I'm leaving for the airport?" she questioned skeptically.

And that was when the smile pumped up to a full fledged grin; that damnably enticing grin that somehow managed to simultaneously make you think of a choir boy and wonder what that wicked mouth would be like in another setting. "Well, that's sort of the point."

"Okay and what's the point then?"

"Stay," he said quietly, the megawatt grin dimming to be replaced by a serious look. Just one word, but it packed quite a punch.

Everyone had asked her, and she wasn't sure why this time was so different. "That really is crazy."

Don straightened, bright blue eyes holding hers as he spoke. "Hear me out Stell. I know you're leaving because you feel unwelcome, and I could kick myself for ever making you feel that way. I know that its hard for you to see everyone with their families when you can't have the same thing; but I also know that when you're gone, there's no place you'd rather be than here."

"What don't you know?" she asked, dead serious.

The smile came back then, subtle and gentle, and he moved a little closer. "I don't know why it never occurred to any of us how you must feel." He moved just a bit closer. "I haven't got a clue how Santa fits his fat self down a chimney year after year, or how it is that he hasn't had a heart attack after all those cookies."

Stella laughed, and he stepped still closer.

"I don't know if you're going to listen to me and forget a perfectly good plane ticket and a spa." They were mere inches apart now, and he began to lean towards her. "And I don't know how you're going to react when I do this."

Then their lips met gently, and suddenly neither of them knew anything. That little flip flop she had felt couldn't even begin to compare to what she felt with his mouth on hers. The kiss was gentle and soft; no demand from either side, just give.

When they pulled apart, Don kept his hands cradled against her cheeks. "Stay Stell," he whispered. "We all want you here. I want you here. Stay."

All she could do was nod. "Okay."

She saw that grin of his for a split second before his mouth came down on hers again, and all she could think was that maybe this year it wouldn't be so horrible to be home for the holidays.


End file.
